R2K slams Premier for missing Moerane deadline

Durban - Advocacy group, Right to Know, is taking KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu, to task for failing to respond to their request to make public the transcripts from the Moerane Commission.

The commission was set up to look into the political killings in KZN.

R2K said they cannot stress enough the importance of transparency and responsiveness from government.

“These are the norms upon which our democracy is built. They give meaning and shape and to our democracy. This request relates to public testimony, including the testimony of political leaders and public bodies such as the South African Police Service whose conduct before the Commission is of great public interest,” the group said.

They added that the transcripts should have been made available proactively as the Commission sat.

R2K said the Premier’s office has delayed its response to their request and has granted itself an extension of November 27, 2018 to respond.

“R2K submitted the PAIA request for the transcripts on August 16, 2018. It has been roughly 75 days since that request was filed. R2K acknowledges that, in the case of in-camera testimony, the task of redacting witness names is both sensitive and time-consuming, we however are not satisfied with the level of engagement and responsiveness of the Premier’s office. We’ve had to remind the Premier’s office of our request after the timeframes allowed in PAIA were missed by his office,” the group said.

They added that if the Premier’s office considered this task important there would have been proactive engagement from their side, by informing them beforehand that they will miss the deadline.

“Although the Premier's office has confirmed that our PAIA request has been granted - we remain disappointed that they are delaying the release,” R2K said.